Bomber

Bomber is a novel of war. There are no victors, no vanquished. There are simply those who remain alive, and those who die. Bomber follows the progress of an Allied air raid through a period of twenty-four hours in the summer of 1943. It portrays all the participants in a terrifying drama, both in the air and on the ground, in Britain and in Germany. In its documentary style, it is unique. In its emotional power it is overwhelming. Len Deighton has been equally acclaimed as a novelist and as an historian.

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Publisher's Summary

Bomber is a novel of war. There are no victors, no vanquished. There are simply those who remain alive, and those who die. Bomber follows the progress of an Allied air raid through a period of twenty-four hours in the summer of 1943. It portrays all the participants in a terrifying drama, both in the air and on the ground, in Britain and in Germany. In its documentary style, it is unique. In its emotional power it is overwhelming.

Len Deighton has been equally acclaimed as a novelist and as an historian. In Bomber he has combined both talents to produce a masterpiece. The classic novel of the Second World War that relates in devastating detail the 24-hour story of an allied bombing raid.

Is it too long? I wondered halfway through. This book endeavors to put all events of a bombing raid together in a 24 hour time frame. Just like the TV series, it is nearly true to time. But it does work. All the stories are well developed and brought together. Lost one star in making every female character marginal and somewhat silly (this maybe a result the narrator, but is not helped by Mr Deighton, who has written great female characters in subsequent novels). The narrator did an awesome job of giving every one of the characters a recognizable voice and did a fantastic job except for the female ones. Replete with incredible detail, I feel like I was in the bomber and on the ground at the same time. Almost a perfect book, almost perfectly read. Highly recommended! I don't think there was an agenda to this story, although I felt for the victims, none of them were very sympathetic. I still feel that everything the allies did to try to win the war was justified, after all they did not know how it would end, and were really just trying to win a war they did not start, but had to see through.

I can't identify a particular moment. The power here is in the broad scope of a single mission.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it's too long.

Any additional comments?

As Tolstoy presented the broad landscape of the Napoleonic Wars through the intimate details of a large number of different people's lives, so the author paints the details of a large number of people's lives during a single fictitious mission by Bomber Command over the Ruhr. War and Peace covers thirteen years, this covers twenty-four hours (on June 31, 1943).

Yes, and I am certain that I will. If you ever want to know what it was really like to be involved in a WW2 night bombing raid from the point of view of all those involved on both sides, read this book!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Bomber?

There are so many that it's difficult to choose, but the fate of Lambert, the English bomber pilot, after all the raids he has done and everything he has been through sums the whole thing up beautifully.

What about Richard Burnip’s performance did you like?

He has a measured delivery that does not sensationalise whilst at the same time never let's you get bored.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It came as close to making me cry as any book I have read / listened to

Any additional comments?

I spend time with WW2 RAF veterans at an annual event and these interactions just make the events depicted in the book more immediate and more personal. I can imagine these old men in their youth going on these raids, not just the one time depicted in this book but several times a week. And they are the lucky ones who made it through. In WW2, RAF Bomber Command aircrew took almost 50% fatal casualties, and hundreds of thousands of German civilians died in the raids they flew. This book makes those statistics very believable.

The buildup really pulls you in as you follow the German civilians, knowing what is going to happen to them. And also the pilots as they go about their preparations.

Any additional comments?

This was an incredible book. I listened to it over the course of a weekend and was genuinely sorry that it ended. Plus, the forward by the author is really interesting as he describes his process of writing and researching the book.

One of my favourite books by one of my favourite authors, this unabridged reading is good value for money but is somewhat spoiled, to my mind, by the narrator.

Richard Burnip’s command of accents is acceptable and his German pronunciation, at least to this non-German speaker, seems good. However, Deighton’s technique in this book is to describe the events surrounding a bomber raid on Germany in minute technical detail but in a completely dispassionate way. This has the odd effect, as Deighton of course intends, of emphasising rather than diminishing the sheer horror of the events described. Burnip’s rather slow, over-deliberate enunciation, together with his habit of inserting small pauses where none should exist does not, to my mind, fit well with Deighton’s narrative style and effortless mastery of technical detail.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

S. Roche

North Yorkshire, UK.

7/24/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Richard Burnip.....avoid at all costs!"

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not as an audible book due to the dreadful, comedy 'narration. '

What was one of the most memorable moments of Bomber?

In the preview narration it is no surprise that it is the voice of Len himself rather than Burnip....no wonder, Audible know what they are playing at!

What didn’t you like about Richard Burnip’s performance?

It's read out like someone reading a tiresome shopping list.....the characterisation is uninteresting and some of the accents border on offensive. RB clearly has no prior interest or passion about the subject. The narration is too laboured and doesn't flow....imagine being stuck next to this fellow on a plane or in a dinner party!!! :(

Did Bomber inspire you to do anything?

Turn off and reach for the paperback!

Any additional comments?

Avoid Richard Burnip at all costs!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

D Molesworth

Bradford UK

8/15/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"An old favourite revisited"

Would you consider the audio edition of Bomber to be better than the print version?

I like both formats in this case but I would say that the audiobooks probably brings the characters to life more. It is long time since I read the book though.

What about Richard Burnip’s performance did you like?

It gave the characters greater depth and gave them more life and in a lot of cases death.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Probably the trapped in the cellar sections.

Any additional comments?

I found it lived up to memories of the original book and though dated in a lot of ways it still brought out the terrible reality of war on people's lives.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

heather

Rochdale, United Kingdom

5/16/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Revealing"

Totally brilliant account of air warfare from both sides,not just horrific and gripping but excellently written delivering a story of love,life,death,bravery,courage,and stupidity all in the period of 24 hours,a must for anyone with a sense of humanity and the futility of war.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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